I'm the travel agent who helps bring families together through www.familytripsinc.agentstudio.com

Monthly Archives: April 2014

Post navigation

Today is one of those days where I’m not sure what to write about. I have some other things on my mind today, but feel like I need to get this done before getting into other things.

We’ve been discussing vacation, but what about those people who know they are not going to be able to get away this summer.. First of all, I want to apologize to you. I may be able to give you some alternatives that might work for you.

You may think you’re unable to take vacation because you just can’t leave work and see no light at the end of the tunnel. If that’s you, you might consider taking a couple of weekend, or even day trips. These trips will at least give you some time to unwind and relax. Think about what relaxes you most. Is it being at the beach or the mountains? Maybe you just want to find a bed and breakfast. If you want to do something like that, but do not have time to plan anything, please just let me know.

But maybe time is not the problem, it’s that travel costs so much. You simply can’t afford to go anywhere. Maybe you should consider looking into museums and things that are free around your area. This could be done on the weekends, or maybe you do want to take a few day off from your job.

I am sure this is not an exhaustive list by any means. I would love to hear your ideas.

I’m going to try to do this as quickly as I can. I am kind of in a mess at work, trying to put out a fire. I don’t want to go into details, just need to concentrate on fixing this mess.

Anyway, we are discussing preparing for your vacation. You are going to need to figure out what you want actually want to do on your vacation? Are you looking to go some place and just do nothing the entire time? Or do you want to plan activities for yourself and your family. You know what you and your family enjoy doing together, so you are the best person to answer these type questions.

Also planning in advance is going to get you and your family much more excited about this vacation of yours. Planning together will also help you bond, so be sure to get everyone’s input on this.

If you just can’t see how you can get away for a week or two at a time, you might want to take a couple of shorter trips, which might be better for you in the long run. Doing things that way will give you more time to anticipate your trips and could give you the option to go in two totally separate directions. I would love to hear about your vacation plans for the summer.

I do my best to make sure to take Sundays off. I am a Christian, and I love going to church. I also love doing things with friends after church. I find that I’m usually feeling pretty refreshed and ready to tackle work on Monday which is always a nice feeling. I definitely have some things to figure out this afternoon, so I am going to get started on this so hopefully I can get finished with this somewhat earlier.

Last time we discussed why people should take summer vacations. Today we are going to talk about how to prepare for summer vacations. Most people can’t just drop everything they have and go off for a week of two. I know I never feel right having to drop everything with work without giving anyone any notice. Sometimes I have no choice because this communication device dies, and I can’t work. But personally I like having all my ducks in a row before taking off for a vacation. You may also have pets you will need to see about before leaving on your trip.

But I’m getting ahead of myself, aren’t I? The first thing you need to do is to decide where you are going, and how long you want, or are able to, stay.

Your next step is to figure out exactly where you are going and what you want to do. And unless you decide to just go to see friends or relatives, that is where I will be more than happy to help. I can arrange hotel stays, car rentals, and cruises. I can also set up day tours, help you with restaurant reservations and things like that. Just e-mail me if you want to book any of these. Also let me know if you have any unusual requests, I have a lot of resources available, and I might be able to figure something out for you.

I think this is going to turn into at least a two-part blog post.. I would love to know your thoughts on this.

I think I am going to do something kind of different today, since today is Friday… I have a question, what were your family vacations like growing up? Did you look forward to these vacations or dread them? When I think of the family vacations we took when I was a kid, I think of going to my grandparents in the summer. My parents had grown up in the same small town, and my two sets of grandparents lived about ten minutes away from each other, so we would go back and forth. I loved staying with my Mom’s parents while most of my family stayed with Dad’s parents. Mom’s family tends to spoil me. But Dad’s parents did put in a pool, and we hung out a lot over there during the day.. I also remember that at at some point during our vacation, my family would take off by themselves, leaving us with either my favorite aunt or my grandparents. That I loved those times… But enough about me, I would love to hear about memories you have.

Now let’s go through some reasons why family travel together during the summer..

First, we are a very busy people. In most families, both parents work, and the children have school and other activities. Vacations are a time when families can get away from their hectic lives and enjoy each other.

Vacation can have educational value as well. Maybe your family would like to go to DC and tour the capital. Or maybe you’d like to go out west and see where the Indians used to live… I would suggest you plan some downtime where you will just enjoy time together, but maybe that’s just me remembering my own childhood where museums got boring after a day.

But maybe you would like to go somewhere like a ranch, and see what life is like in other people’s shoes. There are ways to do this as well… You will be learning, having fun, and likely making some new friends along the way.

Whatever you end up doing, I hope you have the time of your lives. I would love to hear about your vacation plans for the summer.

Sometimes I don’t like Thursdays, kind of. I know I have work to do, today it feels like a lot, but I’m feeling pretty tired… Well, enough complaining, I need to get some things done..

Let’s talk about Canada today, just for something kind of different.. Okay, obviously this is Canada, so you will have snow for those of you who love to ski and play in the snow. There is also a lot of wildlife and absolutely gorgeous scenery for you nature lovers out there. You can also take time for favorite activities like fishing or hiking. There are also rustic villages to explore. When you think of gondolas, you think of Italy, right? But Canada has gondolas as well. They also have cable cars where you can get up close to the beautiful mountains. And then there are the glaciers, some of which are as thick as the Eifle Tower is tall. There is even a glass sky walk over one of these glaciers, which is actually just about to open next month.

Canada has very nice five-star hotels, as well as more moderate accommodations. You can customize your trip to Canada as much as you’d like. And of course, you are going to be able to get any kind of food you’d like.

I am going to go and get some other things done… I would love to know your thoughts on this.

I am going to be honest and say that it’s been a rough morning, and I’m just feeling like I would love to accomplish something right now. I’m having internet issues again, along with some other problems. So I am going to go on and do this and worry about the other things later.

Today I am going to be listening to a training session on villas. One thing you are likely thinking is, “oh, we are going to be discussing villas today, and that’s way out of my price league,” that was my first thought as well. But these people are saying that villas can actually be a great value. Okay, listening to more of this training, I understand what they’re saying, though I’m not sure I agree about the great value. Villas often have five or more bedrooms. Say it is five bedrooms, and each bedroom has its own bathroom, if each family took a bedroom they would pay around three hundred a night. To me, that’s quite a bit of money, but anyway. Staying in a villa, you will have the option of just having a place to be at whatever destination you choose, think like your average condo where everything is do it yourself. Or you can have other people there to serve you. You can get a vacation as luxurious as you want. You can get butlers, maids, chefs. Anything you want can be arranged at any of the properties.

These people have properties in Hawaii, Italy, the Caribbean, and Jamaica. Many of these are going to come with a private pool, as well as being on larger bodies of water… With most properties, someone will be meeting you at the airport to show you how to get to the villa, which is typically pretty secluded. This person who takes you out is going to go through the property and make sure everything is in working order. One thing you should note on European villas is that they want you to arrive one Saturday and leave the next. And another good thing to know is that villas are going to come with most everything you need, all you really need to bring is your clothes.

I am going to stop and get on to the other things I need to do.. As usual, let me know if you’re interested in staying at a villa.

I have some of the best brothers and sisters in the world, I truly believe that. One of my brothers took family on a vacation to Disney World, that was my very first booking. Now he and his wife, along with at least one of my sister’s and her husband, my other siblings are trying to decide if they want to go on this… Actually, I’m considering going as well, but have a whole lot to figure out if I do go… Anyway, today I’ve decided to kill two birds with one stone as it were and go through some training on Carnival Cruise Lines.

I wasn’t able to find any training through M Travel that I think would really work for my purposes, So I am going to read through Carnival’s official website and hopefully glean enough information to make a good post. And this will probably be more up to date, which should be a good thing, especially in light of last year…

we are going to look at what there is to do on a Carnival Cruise first. You always have pools onboard any ship, usually there are several different pools you can choose from. You can also treat yourself to a day at the spa, which is another popular thing to do while on ships. There is golf for you to enjoy. Ships usually have some kids on board, but Carnival has sanctuaries where kids are not allowed. So if you want sometime to relax in peace and quiet, you can always go there. They even have salons where you can go to get pretty.

You are also going to have all kinds of dining option when you are on board a Carnival Cruise ship. I see all-American classics, barbecue, sushi, coffee bars, a steakhouse, I’m making myself hungry.. Room service is always available as well.

I think the big thing my siblings are wanting to do is dive, so I know that is available to you as well.

I am going to do some more research before deciding whether or not I am going to go on this… But what about you?

I started this on Wednesday, but then my computer died and I couldn’t work for several days. Because of my disability, I am unable to jump on another computer. It’s a real pain, but anyway. Grandparents left this weekend., so things are somewhat easier at home.

Life just feels a little hectic lately. Between having my grandparents here and all the commotion with that, and I’ve also had internet problems most of this week. And of course, if the internet isn’t working right, I can’t work much, which I’m not real happy about because there is a lot I want to do. I’m trying to figure this out as I go along.

I am going to be honest, I’m not sure what to do today, so I am going to go through more training. I am working through a book that is hopefully going to show me a lot more Most everything you could want is included in the upfront costs of your cruise. Meals are pretty much included on any cruise you are going to take, but with Azamara most anything you drink is included as well. Most cruises will make you pay for any alcohol you want, but Azamara does not. Suite guests actually get butler services, which sounds really cool. They even have laundry services which which you can either do yourself or pay to have it done for you.

I have a confession to make, I really like keeping a blog because writing is something I truly enjoy. And some people are starting to follow this blog, for which I am extremely grateful. I know I want to keep this up, and hopefully get some good clients out of this. But I am still pretty unsure of what I’m doing on this, and feel unsure of what kind of subjects I should be covering, etc. So today I am going to try to do some research on this and see what I can come up with.

Maybe it would help to share some of my own travel dreams. Because of my disability, I have a difficult time going anywhere. But if I could go anywhere, I think I would go to Europe. I would love to go to England and see where C S Lewis lived and worked. And while I was in England, I would also love to see Highclere Castle, where Downton Abby is filmed. Downton is by far my favorite show. My dream would be to go when they were filming and actually meet the characters… While I was there, I would also love to go to Scotland to see where George MacDonald lived and worked.

But the place I would like to go most is Holland and see the Ten Boom place. Corrie Ten Boom is one of my heroes of the faith. I’ve read a lot of her work, and absolutely love her story. Now if she was still on earth, meeting her would be a dream come true for me.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this blog. What would you like to read more about? I look forward to hearing your ideas!

Today is Monday, and for once I was able to get up pretty early. I have some other things I would like to do today, so I am going to go on and do this..

I know I need to do more with public relations. I have people saying that are saying they’d like to work with me, but then I’m not hearing back from them. And I do use some social media, but I’m not crazy about spending hours of my trying to figure out how to get actual clients. Maybe I should, I’m not really sure what to do at this point. But I know I want to figure something out. Being a travel agent is something I really want to do, so I am going to need to figure some things out.. But my internet is not working well at all, so I am going to have to come back to this this afternoon… I’m back, and hopefully I can get this working right. Again, I need to work on reading the newspaper more than I do, which I am going to do once I finish this.

Another thing that they suggest is trying to get out and speak to different groups about travel related topics.. And I have actually done some “speaking” in front of groups about disability issues. Usually I have a speech written up and then would allow people to ask questions after that. This is something that I have enjoyed doing, so I might look into how to do this.

There is a lot I could be doing if my internet will start working right. So I think I am going to go on and post this and get to some other things…